Mammals of the Caribbean - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A unique and diverse albeit phylogenetically restricted mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

fauna is known from the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

region. The region—specifically, all islands in the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

(except for small islets close to the continental mainland) and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands

Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre.The Turks and...

, and Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically

Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...

belong to the same Caribbean bioregion

Caribbean bioregion

The Caribbean bioregion is a biogeographic region that includes the islands of the Caribbean Sea, which share a flora and fauna distinct from surrounding bioregions....

—has been home to several families

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

found nowhere else, but much of this diversity is now extinct.

The bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

faunas of much of the Caribbean show similarities that led to the proposal of a distinct Caribbean faunal region, bounded by "Koopman's Line". This region excludes several of the region's islands, including the Grenadines

Grenadines

The Grenadines is a Caribbean island chain of over 600 islands in the Windward Islands.-Geographic boundaries:They are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. They lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither...

, Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

, Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

, Tobago

Tobago

Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...

, and other islands near the American mainland, such as Margarita

Isla Margarita

Margarita Island is the largest island of the state of Nueva Esparta in Venezuela, situated in the Caribbean Sea, off the northeastern coast of the country. The state also contains two other smaller islands: Coche and Cubagua. The capital city of Nueva Esparta is La Asunción, located in a river...

, Cozumel

Cozumel

Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatan Channel. Cozumel is one of the ten municipalities of the state of Quintana Roo...

, and the Florida Keys

Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...

. The faunas of islands outside Koopman's Line are similar to those of the adjacent mainland, though usually smaller; in contrast, the region inside Koopman's Line harbors relatively few species shared with the mainland and many of its species belong to endemic genera, subfamilies, and even families.

Excluding bats, nearly 90% of the mammals of the Caribbean faunal region have gone extinct since the late Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

, including all the sloth

Sloth

Sloths are the six species of medium-sized mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae , part of the order Pilosa and therefore related to armadillos and anteaters, which sport a similar set of specialized claws.They are arboreal residents of the jungles of Central and South...

s and monkey

Monkey

A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...

s, the unique insectivore Nesophontes, two of four species of solenodon, and a variety of rodents including all giant hutia

Giant hutia

The giant hutias are an extinct group of large rodents known from fossil and subfossil material in the West Indies. One species, Amblyrhiza inundata, is estimated to have weighed between , big specimens being as large as an American Black Bear...

s, leaving only a few hutia

Hutia

Hutias are moderately large cavy-like rodents of the family Capromyidae that inhabit the Caribbean Islands. They range in size from , and can weigh up to . Twenty species of hutia have been identified, and half may be extinct. They resemble the nutria in some respects...

species extant. Most of these species (the sloths, monkeys, and caviomorph rodents

Caviomorpha

Caviomorpha is the rodent infraorder or parvorder that unites all South American hystricognaths. It is supported by both fossil and molecular evidence.-Origin:...

) were of South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

n origin. The oryzomyine rodents

Oryzomyini

Oryzomyini is a tribe of rodents in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of family Cricetidae. It includes about 120 species in about thirty genera, distributed from the eastern United States to the southernmost parts of South America, including many offshore islands...

were of ultimately of Nearctic origin, but except for those on Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

would also have reached the Caribbean via South America. The origin(s) of the Caribbean soricomorphs

Soricomorpha

The order Soricomorpha is taxon within the class of mammals. In previous years it formed a significant group within the former order Insectivora...

are uncertain.

Non-flying mammals of Cenozoic origin must have colonized the Caribbean islands by some combination of rafting

Rafting event

Oceanic dispersal is a type of biological dispersal that occurs when organisms transfer from one land mass to another by way of a sea crossing on large clumps of floating vegetation. Such matted clumps of vegetation are often seen floating down major rivers in the tropics and washing out to sea,...

and/or use of a "land span" (a temporary land bridge

Land bridge

A land bridge, in biogeography, is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonise new lands...

connecting South America with one or more off-shelf

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...

islands). Colonization of a series of islands can occur either by an iterative

Iteration

Iteration means the act of repeating a process usually with the aim of approaching a desired goal or target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration," and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration.-Mathematics:Iteration in...

rafting process ("island-hopping"), or by colonization of a large ancestral island which is then subdivided by into smaller islands by subsequent geologic or sea level changes (island-island vicariance

Allopatric speciation

Allopatric speciation or geographic speciation is speciation that occurs when biological populations of the same species become isolated due to geographical changes such as mountain building or social changes such as emigration...

). The restricted, unbalanced nature of the Caribbean mammal fauna implies that rafting was part of the overall process. This is consistent with the fact that megalonychid sloths

Megalonychidae

Megalonychidae is a group of sloths including the extinct Megalonyx and the living two toed sloths. Megalonychids first appeared in the early Oligocene, about 35 million years ago, in southern Argentina , and spread as far as the Antilles by the early Miocene...

, platyrrhine monkey

New World monkey

New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Platyrrhini parvorder and the Ceboidea superfamily, which are essentially synonymous since...

s and caviomorph rodents have all shown a capacity for this type of dispersal (in their colonization of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

from South America prior to formation of the Isthmus of Panama

Isthmus of Panama

The Isthmus of Panama, also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country of Panama and the Panama Canal...

in the first case, and of South America from Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

in latter two cases). These three groups are known in the Caribbean from fossils as old as the early Oligocene

Oligocene

The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

, early Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

and early Miocene, respectively. Rafting is also consistent with the prevailing flow of oceanic currents from South America towards the islands.

The large proportion of extinctions can be attributed to the isolated and therefore somewhat less competitive nature of the islands' ecosystems, and to the fact that carnivora

Carnivora

The diverse order Carnivora |Latin]] carō "flesh", + vorāre "to devour") includes over 260 species of placental mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word "carnivore" can refer to any meat-eating animal...

ns never colonized most of the region. These factors made the islands' native fauna particularly vulnerable to disruption by humans and the invasive species

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

they introduced. (The large predator

Predation

In ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator feeds on its prey . Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of its prey and the eventual absorption of the prey's tissue through consumption...

niche

Ecological niche

In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin could potentially be in another ecological niche from one that travels in a different pod if the members of these pods utilize significantly different food...

s of the Caribbean islands were formerly occupied by endemic outsize hawks, falcons, caracaras

Caracara (genus)

Caracara is a genus of birds of prey in the family Falconidae found throughout a large part of the Americas. They are part of a group collectively referred to as caracaras...

, teratorn

Teratornithidae

Teratorns were very large birds of prey that lived in North and South America from Miocene to Pleistocene. They include some of the largest known flying birds. So far, at least four species have been identified:*Teratornis merriami . This is by far the best-known species...

s and owls—e.g. Titanohierax
Titanohierax
Titanohierax is an fossil genus of giant hawk from Cuba, Hispaniola and the Bahamas. It has one known species, Titanohierax gloveralleni. The extinct crab-hawk Buteogallus borrasi was formerly placed in this genus....

, Gigantohierax, Buteogallus borrasi
Buteogallus borrasi
Buteogallus borrasi is an extinct species of giant buteonine hawk formerly endemic to Cuba. It probably fed on megafauna.It was so huge compared to other Buteogallus that it was long believed to be a titan-hawk or even an Aquila eagle. No proper common name exists due to this misconception...

, Caracara tellustris, Oscaravis olsoni, Ornimegalonyx and Tyto pollens
Tyto pollens
Tyto pollens, also known as Andros Island Barn Owl, Bahamian Barn Owl, Bahamian Great Owl, or "Chickcharnie," was a , flightless barn owl that lived in the old-growth pineyards of Andros Island...

—all of which are now extinct. Cuban crocodile

Cuban crocodile

The Cuban crocodile is a small species of crocodile found only in Cuba's Zapata Swamp and the Isle of Youth, and highly endangered, though it formerly ranged elsewhere in the Caribbean...

s also have more terrestrial habits than other extant crocodilians.)

This article covers all land mammals, including those introduced to the Caribbean, but excludes marine mammal
Marine mammal
Marine mammals, which include seals, whales, dolphins, and walruses, form a diverse group of 128 species that rely on the ocean for their existence. They do not represent a distinct biological grouping, but rather are unified by their reliance on the marine environment for feeding. The level of...

s such as whales and manatees.

Opossums

Opossums (order Didelphimorphia), the largest group of American marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...

s, are of limited diversity in the Caribbean. The large opossum Didelphis marsupialis is found on Trinidad

Trinidad

and Tobago

Tobago

and in the Windward Islands

Windward Islands

The Windward Islands are the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles, within the West Indies.-Name and geography:The Windward Islands are called such because they were more windward to sailing ships arriving in the New World than the Leeward Islands, given that the prevailing trade winds in the...

up to Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

, being found on Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia is an island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 620 km2 and has an...

, Saint Vincent

Saint Vincent (island)

Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...

, Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...

, and the Grenadines

Grenadines

of Carriacou, Mustique

Mustique

Mustique is a small private island in the West Indies. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines....

, and Bequia

Bequia

Bequia is the largest island in the Grenadines. It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and is approximately 15 km from the nation's capital, Kingstown.-Geography:The island capital is Port Elizabeth...

. At least some of the latter populations may have been introduced by humans. In Central America, it is also found on the islands of Cozumel

Cozumel

, Mexico, and Roatán

Roatán

Roatán, located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan...

, Honduras. The smaller Marmosa robinsoni is also known from Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, and Roatán, but the classification of Central American populations of this species is unclear. In addition, Marmosa murina is known from Trinidad and Tobago, Marmosops fuscatus and Chironectes minimus from Trinidad only, and Caluromys philander from Trinidad and the Venezuelan island of Margarita

Isla Margarita

. A related species, Caluromys derbianus, is known from the small Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

nian island of Escudo de Veraguas.

Armadillos

Armadillo

Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...

s (order Cingulata) include about 20 species, mostly in South America. One species, the nine-banded armadillo

Nine-banded Armadillo

The nine-banded armadillo , or the nine-banded, long-nosed armadillo, is a species of armadillo found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos...

(Dasypus novemcinctus) is known from Trinidad, Tobago, and Grenada. An unspecified fossil armadillo has been recorded from Bonaire in the ABC Islands.

Pilosans

The order Pilosa

Pilosa

The order Pilosa is a group of placental mammals, extant today only in the Americas. It includes the anteaters and sloths, including the recently extinct ground sloths....

includes the sloth

Sloth

s and anteater

Anteater

Anteaters, also known as antbear, are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa...

s, about ten species of which survive in Central and South America. Until the middle Holocene

Holocene

The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...

, the Greater Antilles

Greater Antilles

The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.-Greater Antilles in context :The islands of the Caribbean Sea, collectively known as...

and surrounding islands were home to at least as many species of sloths in four or more genera. All of those are now extinct, with many last appearance dates coinciding roughly with the first arrival of humans. The extinct Caribbean sloths were generally more terrestrial than extant sloths, although not exclusively so. Some other pilosans are still found on islands along the margin of the Caribbean.

Soricomorphs

The order Soricomorpha

Soricomorpha

The order Soricomorpha is taxon within the class of mammals. In previous years it formed a significant group within the former order Insectivora...

includes the shrew

Shrew

A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...

s and mole

Mole (animal)

Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...

s as well as two families known only from the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. One of the latter, that of the solenodons, includes four known species, two of which are extinct and two of which are endangered, found on Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

and Hispaniola

Hispaniola

Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...

. Solenodons are only distantly related to other soricomorphs and may have split from them in the Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

. Whether they are closely related to the other Caribbean soricomorph family, Nesophontidae, is unknown. This family includes about ten species, all extinct, from Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

and nearby islands, and the Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...

. Several are known to have survived into the last millennium, but their exact extinction dates are unknown.

Bats

Bat

s (order Chiroptera) are diverse in the Caribbean, with over 60 species known from Trinidad alone. Six families—Phyllostomidae, Vespertilionidae, Molossidae, Natalidae

Natalidae

The family Natalidae, or funnel-eared bats are found from Mexico to Brazil and the Caribbean islands. The family has three genera, Chilonatalus, Natalus and Nyctiellus. They are slender bats with unusually long tails and, as their name suggests, funnel-shaped ears. They are small, at only 3.5 to...

, Mormoopidae

Mormoopidae

The family Mormoopidae contains bats known generally as mustached bats, ghost-faced bats, and naked-backed bats. They are found in the Americas from the Southwestern United States to Southeastern Brazil....

, and Noctilionidae—are widespread in the Caribbean and three others—Furipteridae

Furipteridae

Furipteridae is one of the families of bats. This family contains only two species, the Smokey Bat and the Thumbless Bat. Both are from Central and South America, and are closely related to the bats in the Natalidae and Thyropteridae families. They can be recognized by their reduced and...

, Thyropteridae

Thyropteridae

Disc-winged bats are a small group of bats of the family Thyropteridae. They are found in Central and South America, usually in moist tropical rain forests. It is a very small family, consisting of a single genus with four species....

, and Emballonuridae—are restricted to islands close to the South and Central American mainland. The family Natalidae, which is most diverse in the Antilles, may have originated in the area and is perhaps the oldest bat lineage of the Caribbean. Some diverse clades in the phyllostomid subfamilies Glossophaginae

Glossophaginae

Glossophaginae is a subfamily of leaf-nosed bats.-List of species:Subfamily: Glossophaginae* Tribe Glossophagini**Genus: Anoura - Geoffroy's Long-nosed Bats***Anoura aequatoris***Cadena's Tailless Bat, Anoura cadenai...

and Stenodermatinae

Stenodermatinae

Stenodermatinae is a large subfamily of bats in the family Phyllostomidae.-List of species:Subfamily Stenodermatinae*Genus: Ametrida**Little White-shouldered Bat, Ametrida centurio*Genus: Ardops**Tree Bat, Ardops nichollsi...

may also be Antillean in origin. Although bats have not nearly been affected as much by extinctions as other Caribbean mammal lineages, about half of the Caribbean bat species have suffered either total or local extinction in recent times.

Carnivorans

Carnivora

ns (order Carnivora) are known only from islands at the margins of the Caribbean. On Trinidad

Trinidad

, the tayra

Tayra

The tayra , also known as the Tolomuco or Perico ligero in Central America, and San Hol or viejo de monte in the Yucatan Peninsula is an omnivorous animal from the weasel family Mustelidae. It is the only species in the genus Eira...

(Eira barbara), the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), the ocelot

Ocelot

The ocelot , pronounced /ˈɒsəˌlɒt/, also known as the dwarf leopard or McKenney's wildcat is a wild cat distributed over South and Central America and Mexico, but has been reported as far north as Texas and in Trinidad, in the Caribbean...

(Leopardus pardalis), and the crab-eating raccoon

Crab-eating raccoon

The Crab-eating Raccoon is a species of raccoon native to marshy and jungle areas of Central and South America . It is found from Costa Rica south through most areas of South America east of the Andes down to northern Argentina and Uruguay...

(Procyon cancrivorus) have been recorded. Three carnivora

Carnivora

ns are known from the island of Cozumel

Cozumel

off eastern Mexico, all of which are diminutive in size relative to their mainland relatives. The Cozumel coati

Coati

Coatis, genera Nasua and Nasuella, also known as the Brazilian aardvark, Mexican tejón, hog-nosed coon, pizotes, crackoons and snookum bears, are members of the raccoon family . They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, and south-western North America...

, sometimes recognized as a separate species, Nasua nelsoni, belongs to the same species as the mainland white-nosed coati (Nasua narica), but the raccoon

Raccoon

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

is still classified as a distinct species, the Cozumel raccoon

Cozumel Raccoon

The Cozumel raccoon , also called the pygmy raccoon, is a critically endangered species of raccoon endemic on Cozumel Island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.The pygmy raccoon goes by a variety of common names...

(Procyon pygmaeus). The Cozumel fox

Cozumel Fox

The Cozumel Fox is an undescribed species of fox which is apparently close to extinction or even already extinct. It is found on the island of Cozumel, Mexico. The Cozumel Fox, which has not been scientifically described to date, is a dwarf form like the Island Fox but slightly larger, being up...

, related to the mainland gray fox

Gray Fox

The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...

(Urocyon cinereoargenteus), has yet to receive a scientific name. The kinkajou

Kinkajou

The kinkajou , also known as the honey bear , is a rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus Potos. Kinkajous may be mistaken for ferrets or monkeys, but are not closely related...

(Potos flavus) has been recorded a few times, but may not be native to the island. The greater grison

Greater Grison

The greater grison, Galictis vittata, is an animal belonging to the ferret family Mustelidae from Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, living in savannas and rainforests, usually seen near rivers and streams....

(Galictis vittata) has also been recorded, but apparently in error.

Populations of Procyon
Procyon (genus)
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

on New Providence

New Providence

New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It also houses the national capital city, Nassau.The island was originally under Spanish control following Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World, but the Spanish government showed...

in the Bahamas, Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

, and Barbados

Barbados

have been regarded as endemic species, but these represent no more than introduced populations of the common North American raccoon

Raccoon

(Procyon lotor). Raccoons have also been introduced to various other Caribbean islands. Similarly, remains of domestic dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

s (Canis lupus familiaris) on Cuba have been described as separate genera and species, Cubacyon transversidens and Indocyon caribensis. The small Asian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) has been widely introduced in the Caribbean from the 1870s onwards; it is known from Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Gonâve, Puerto Rico, Vieques, Saint Thomas

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...

, Saint John

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint John is an island in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. St...

, Water Island

Water Island, U.S. Virgin Islands

Water Island was acquired by the USA in 1917 from Denmark but continued to be owned by a corporation until several decades later. Since 1996, it has formed part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, a United States territory located in the Caribbean Sea. The island is of volcanic origin and lies to the...

, Lovango Cay

Lovango Cay, U.S. Virgin Islands

Lovango Cay is an island of the United States Virgin Islands.Accessible only by boat, the north side of the cay features a beautiful, small bay. With another cay to the north, the water here tends to stay calm and offers very good snorkeling. Among other things, nurse sharks are often found...

, Tortola

Tortola

Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...

, Beef Island

Beef Island

Beef Island is an island in the British Virgin Islands. It is located to the east of Tortola, and the two islands are connected by the Queen Elizabeth Bridge. Beef Island is the site of the Terrance B...

, Jost van Dyke

Jost Van Dyke

At roughly 8 square kilometers, and about 3 square miles Jost Van Dyke is the smallest of the four main islands of the British Virgin Islands, the northern portion of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Jost Van Dyke lies about 8 km to the...

, Saint Croix, Saint Martin

Saint Martin

Saint Martin is an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km2 island is divided roughly 60/40 between France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands ; however, the Dutch side has the larger population. It is one of the smallest sea islands divided between...

, Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...

, Nevis

Nevis

Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located near the northern end of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, about 350 km east-southeast of Puerto Rico and 80 km west of Antigua. The 93 km² island is part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies...

, Antigua

Antigua

Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...

, Guadeloupe, La Désirade

La Désirade

La Désirade is a French West Indies island located at the eastern of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles.It has a land area of 20.64 km² and a population of 1,595 in 2006 , with a population density of 77 inh. per km² in 2006...

, Marie Galante, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Carriacou, Grenada, Barbados, and Trinidad.

Artiodactyls

Artiodactyls, part of the order Cetartiodactyla

Cetartiodactyla

Cetartiodactyla is the clade in which whales and even-toed ungulates have currently been placed. The term was coined by merging the name for the two orders, Cetacea and Artiodactyla, into a single word. The term Cetartiodactyla reflects the idea that whales evolved within the artiodactyls...

which also includes whales and dolphins

Cetacea

The order Cetacea includes the marine mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetus is Latin and is used in biological names to mean "whale"; its original meaning, "large sea animal", was more general. It comes from Ancient Greek , meaning "whale" or "any huge fish or sea...

, include deer, antelope, cattle, pigs, camels, and related species. A small form of the collared peccary

Collared Peccary

The collared peccary is a species of mammal in the family Tayassuidae that is found in North, Central, and South America. They are commonly referred to as javelina, saíno or báquiro, although these terms are also used to describe other species in the family...

(Pecari tajacu) is known from Cozumel. The white-lipped peccary

White-lipped Peccary

The White-lipped Peccary, Tayassu pecari, is a peccary species found in Central and South America, living in rainforest, dry forest and chaco scrub. It is monotypic within the genus Tayassu....

has also been reported, but probably in error. The latter has been introduced to Cuba, but is no longer extant there. The collared peccary is also known from Trinidad. The red brocket

Red Brocket

The Red Brocket , is a species of brocket deer from forests in South America, ranging from northern Argentina to Colombia and the Guianas...

, a widespread South American deer, also occurs on Trinidad and Tobago. The Key deer

Key Deer

The Key Deer is an endangered deer that lives only in the Florida Keys. It is a subspecies of the White-tailed deer .-Physical description and behavior:...

(Odocoileus virginianus clavium), a dwarf subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

of the white-tailed deer

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...

(Odocoileus virginianus), occurs on the Florida Keys

Florida Keys

Perissodactyls

Odd-toed ungulate

An odd-toed ungulate is a mammal with hooves that feature an odd number of toes. Odd-toed ungulates comprise the order Perissodactyla . The middle toe on each hoof is usually larger than its neighbours...

are the order of odd-toed ungulates, including horses

Equidae

Equidae is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus Equus...

, rhinos

Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....

, tapir

Tapiroidea

Tapiroidea is a superfamily of perissodactyls which includes the modern Tapir. Members of the Superfamily are small to large browsing mammals, roughly pig-like in shape, with short, prehensile snouts. Their closest relatives are the other odd-toed ungulates, including horses and rhinoceroses...

s and other extinct forms. Fossils of Hyrachyus
Hyrachyus
Hyrachyus is an extinct genus of perissodactyl mammal that lived in Eocene Europe and North America. Its remains have also been found in Jamaica. It is closely related to Lophiodon....

, a primitive perissodactyl also present in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

with affinities to early tapirs and rhinos, are known from the Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

of Jamaica

Jamaica

Lagomorphs

The order Lagomorpha

Lagomorpha

The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families, the Leporidae , and the Ochotonidae...

includes rabbits, hares, and pika

Pika

The pika is a small mammal, with short limbs, rounded ears, and short tail. The name pika is used for any member of the Ochotonidae, a family within the order of lagomorphs, which also includes the Leporidae . One genus, Ochotona, is recognised within the family, and it includes 30 species...

s. There are few lagomorphs in the Caribbean, and they are either introduced or restricted to islands close to the mainland. The European hare

European Hare

The European hare , also known as the brown hare, Eastern Jackrabbit and Eastern prairie hare, is a species of hare native to northern, central, and western Europe and western Asia. It is a mammal adapted to temperate open country. It is related to the similarly appearing rabbit, which is in the...

(Lepus europaeus) has been introduced to Barbados. The eastern cottontail

Eastern Cottontail

The eastern cottontail is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is one of the most common rabbit species in North America.-Distribution:...

(Sylvilagus floridanus) occurs near Venezuela on Aruba

Aruba

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

, Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, Margarita

Isla Margarita

, and the Islas de los Testigos.

Rodents

Caribbean rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

s (order Rodentia), are diverse, including several families. The fauna of the Greater Antilles mainly consists of caviomorpha

Caviomorpha

Caviomorpha is the rodent infraorder or parvorder that unites all South American hystricognaths. It is supported by both fossil and molecular evidence.-Origin:...

ns, including hutia

Hutia

s, giant hutia

Giant hutia

s, and a subfamily of spiny rat

Spiny rat

The spiny rats are a group of hystricognath rodents in the family Echimyidae. They are distributed from central Central America through much of South America. They were also found in the West Indies until the 19th century...

s (Heteropsomyinae). Of these, only some hutias survive. Oryzomyines

Oryzomyini

, part of a wholly distinct branch of the rodents, are known throughout the Lesser Antilles and on Jamaica, but are now also mostly extinct. Various other rodents have been introduced or are known only from the fringes of the Caribbean region.

Primates

All indigenous primate

Primate

A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...

s (order Primates) of the Caribbean are New World monkey

New World monkey

s (Platyrrhini), but Old World forms have been introduced. Four monkey species are known from the Greater Antilles, all extinct. They are classified together as the tribe Xenotrichini, which is related to the titi

Titi

The titis, or titi monkeys, are the New World monkeys of the genus Callicebus. They are the only extant members of the Callicebinae subfamily, which also contains the extinct genera Xenothrix, Antillothrix, Paralouatta, Carlocebus, Homunculus, Lagonimico and possibly also Tremacebus.Titis live in...

s (Callicebus) of mainland South America. Three species—Xenothrix mcgregori from Jamaica, Paralouatta varonai from Cuba, and Antillothrix bernensis from Hispaniola—are known from the Quaternary and presumably went extinct relatively recently, and the fourth species, Paralouatta marianae is known from Domo de Zaza, an early Miocene

Burdigalian

The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma...

locality on Cuba. Two monkeys, Alouatta macconnelli and Cebus albifrons, occur on Trinidad. Ateles geoffroyi has been recorded from Cozumel, but probably incorrectly. Old World monkey

Old World monkey

The Old World monkeys or Cercopithecidae are a group of primates, falling in the superfamily Cercopithecoidea in the clade Catarrhini. The Old World monkeys are native to Africa and Asia today, inhabiting a range of environments from tropical rain forest to savanna, shrubland and mountainous...

s (Chlorocebus sabaeus and Cercopithecus mona) have been introduced to some of the Lesser Antilles. Rhesus Macaque

Rhesus Macaque

The Rhesus macaque , also called the Rhesus monkey, is one of the best-known species of Old World monkeys. It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and its tolerance of a broad range of habitats...

s (Macaca mulatta) have been introduced to a couple of islands off the coast of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

, namely Cayo Santiago

Cayo Santiago

Cayo Santiago, also known as Isla de los monos , is an uninhabited island, located at , 950 m southeast of Punta Santiago, Humacao, Puerto Rico.-Geography:...

and Desecheo Island

Desecheo Island

Desecheo is a small uninhabited island of the archipelago of Puerto Rico located in the northeast of the Mona Passage; 21 km from the west coast of the main island of Puerto Rico and 50 km northeast of Mona Island. It has a land area of 1.5 km² . Politically, the island is...

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The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Opossums

Armadillos

Pilosans

Soricomorphs

Bats

Carnivorans

Artiodactyls

Perissodactyls

Lagomorphs

Rodents

Primates

See also

Literature cited